EA Sports targets ex-college football players for Madden dev team

Here’s one way to break into the highly competitive games industry: be really good at sport.

Kotaku reports EA Sports and the NCAA have joined forces to offer sports fans the chance to get experience in games development.

Two fellowships will be offered in January to suitable post-graduate candidates, and will offer full-time employment at EA Tiburon – developer of the Madden NFL and NCAA series – for 16 weeks.

Naturally you’ll need more than a tackle like a bulldozer to qualify, although the requirements are flexible, according to Cam Weber of EA Sports.

“The potential roles will vary based on the types of candidates that apply,” he said. “We are interested in candidates from engineering through to art, audio, and game design.

“We are in a growth phase as we take on a major transformation in our industry. Part of our talent growth strategy is to target university grads. We have seen former college football players flourish in our team here at Tiburon, and we are excited about having more of them join our team to help us build the world’s most authentic and immersive football games.”

Weber himself is a former NCAA player, having been a quarterback during his study at Simon Fraser University, and the team also boasts ex-Auburn player Alex Howell and a number of Division 1 players.